The funding was raised from California-based investor The Roda Group and Canadian investors Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital and BDC Venture Capital.

Axine has been working on its new wastewater cleaning method over the past 12 months, optimizing the process to make it cost-efficient and environmentally friendly. The process is chemical-free and is able to treat wastewater with a high concentration of toxic industrial pollutants, including ammonia, the company says.

The company has worked on the project in collaboration with the oil and gas industry, chemical processing firms and chip manufacturers, among other sectors. Axine believes that by enabling businesses to treat their own wastewater at a low cost and through a simple process they will be able to reuse it, minimizing the use of fresh water in industrial processes.

Axine explained that its technology was five times cheaper than competing solutions and has the additional benefit of producing no sludge. At present the project is still in its early stages, with the company hoping to start delivering pilot projects to customers in early 2015.

Jonathan Rhone, president and chief executive of Axine, commented that the company was now focusing on completing final cell scale-up and system integration to get ready for the pilot projects.